Calling it one of the most significant welfare issues affecting any equine breed or discipline, the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) issued recommendations for eliminating the abusive practice within the Tennessee Walking Horse industry known as soring. Soring is the infliction of pain to create an extravagant or exaggerated gait in horses for training or show purposes. Even though soring is prohibited by the federal Horse Protection Act of 1970, some within the industry...

The Southeastern Horse Sale will be held at the Western North Carolina Agricultural Center in Fletcher, NC, right outside Asheville, on December 6, 2008. The Southeastern Horse Sale will provide a public auction of American Saddlebreds, Hackney and Harness Ponies, Morgans and Roadster Horses and Ponies. The Southeastern Horse Sale fills a need in the Southeast for a new venue to buy and sell Saddlebreds. Now buyers and sellers don't have to travel all the way to Kentucky to transact their...

A three-day course on investigating equine abuse and neglect is offered by the Kentucky Horse Council (KHC) in cooperation with Morehead State University (MSU), October 1-3, 2008. The class is part of the KHC horse welfare program and is designed for animal control officers, sheriffs, and other Kentucky law enforcement officials involved in investigating and prosecuting equine neglect and abuse. “We are committed to being part of the solution in support of better outcomes for neglected Kentucky...

The American Morgan Horse Association (AMHA) would like to congratulate the following Silver Medalists for their outstanding performances at horse shows across the country for the months of June and July: Kristin Chandler: Porter Corners, NY Hannah White: Delanson, NY Nellie Wich: Harshaw, WI Jacqueline Beck: Aliso Viejo, CA Taylor Sams: La Mesa, CA Stevie Watson: Tuttle, OK Samantha Winsett: Longmont, CA Raivenne Scott: Cornelius, OR Lauren Gorfinkle: Pleasanton, CA Kelsie Houghtaling:...

Attention junior riders interested in competing at next year’s Adequan/USEF National Junior Jumper Championships. The 2009 selection procedures and qualifying period for this championship are now available on the USEF website’s Jumper Discipline page at www.usef.org/Contentpage2.aspx?id=natjumping . Please direct questions to Jennifer Haydon, Director of Show Jumping for National Programs, at [email protected] or (859) 225-6911.

Kent Farrington of Wellington, FL, rode Up Chiqui to win the $50,000 Vermont Summer Celebration Grand Prix, the final event of the six-week Vermont Summer Festival held July 9-August 17 in East Dorset, VT. Twenty-four riders tackled course designer Pierre Jolicoeur’s track with eight jumping clear to advance to the jump-off where it all came down to the tightest turns. “I thought the first round was very friendly, just the right amount of riders went clear and we had a nice jump-off,” said...

The USEF Dressage Committee met on July 1-2, 2008 and discussed the USEF Dressage Performance Standards Proposal. This discussion included a review of compiled results of the online survey that was developed to gather feedback from USEF and USDF members. These results were recently shared with the United States Dressage Federation (USDF) Executive Board and show that a majority of the approximately 1,250 respondents expressed support for the idea of having competition performance standards for...

Three Przewalski horse foals kicked up their hooves, making a grand entrance at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park on Friday, August 8, 2008. The Wild Animal Park currently houses 17 of these critically endangered horses, including the new additions, born August 3, July 22 and July 19. Two more babies are expected soon. Foals are born after an 11-month pregnancy. Approximately 30 minutes after birth the babies must be on their legs and able to move with the herd. Since 1974, 138 Przewalski's...

Hong Kong, China – Coming into the Games, Peters was pinned as the best individual medal hope for the US in recent memory. Riding Akiko Yamazaki’s formerly undefeated Steffen Peters and Ravel (Shannon Brinkman) 10-year-old KWPN gelding Ravel, Peters put in a masterful performance in the horse’s first effort outside the US. Anky van Grunsven and Salinero won on the strength of their freestyle (82.4%), winning her third consecutive Individual gold medal for The Netherlands on a...

Hong Kong, China – A jump-off between the United States and Canada decided the Team Gold medal tonight at Sha Tin. Gold for the USA (Shannon Brinkman) Two countries, tied on a score of 20, after two rounds. The US won. In the Olympic rules, all team members return to the ring to jump-off. Canada began the evening a horse down because Mac Cone withdrew Ole. This meant that they did not get to drop a score. Under the watchful eye of Chef d'Equipe George Morris, McLain Ward led it off...